The Leandro Burger meal, in its gloriously paired entirety would have, crispy fries with a horseradish and grains of paradise infused ketchup, a Samuel Adams Summer Ale (made with bright lemon and grains of paradise on an American Wheat Ale base) and a fifty fifty blend of ground pork and beef, blended with diced granny smith apple and stuffed with swiss cheese, then cooked to perfection and sitting atop a whole grain toasted bun with a slice of red onion and an apricot, honey and bavarian mustard compote to top.

Cheese pairing has become a science based art (my favourite kind) that involves balancing and matching aromatics and volatile compounds and making them sing many notes in one mouthful of delicious madness! This burger was dreamt up somewhere between the concept of cheese pairing and wanting to do something fried with the 10 pounds of potatoes just sitting in my kitchen. Burger and fries is a super American classic, but I really wanted to see a burger with a flavour profile that originated in the Swiss Alps.

Ingredients:

2/3 c. dried apricots, diced

1 tbsp. honey

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

a spot of ketchup

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. bavarian whole grain mustard

cooking spray

1/2 lb. ground pork

1/2 lb. ground beef

an egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. panko or any unflavoured bread crumbs

1 granny smith apple, finely chopped

1 red onion, thinly sliced

roma tomato

a few spinach or other green leaves

4 oz. swiss cheese, grated

whole grain burger buns

To serve:

A lager or weiss beer will pair nicely

crispy fries

or I suppose you could do a salad of whatever green you put on the burger

Directions:

Combine the ground meats, the apple, panko breadcrumbs and egg in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine. If the mixture is too wet to form patties add more bread crumbs and if it’s too dry consider adding ½ tbsp. of the mustard, this will be additional to the recipe amount. Form into 8 very thin patties. Place 1 oz. of the grated cheese onto one of the patties and then top with another patty. Press the edges together. Allow to set up on a plate or sheet, refrigerated, for about 30 minutes while you make the ketchup.

To make the apricot ‘ketchup’, place the apricots, honey and vinegar in a small pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and reduce to simmer. Cook until sauce like – 15 minutes.

Cook the burgers on grill until cooked through and cheese is melty (most likely you’ll see some ooze out somewhere).

Toast the buns. Schmear about 1 tsp. of mustard on the bottom bun. Then schmear some ketchup on the top bun. Add the apricot ‘ketchup’ in small amounts on top of the ketchup. Place the burger on top of the mustardy bun and then top with lettuce green, red onion and tomato. Top with the ketchupy bun and serve with the proper accoutrements.